PRAGUE (Reuters) – The Czech government will try to meet its 2023 budget deficit target of 295 billion crowns ($13.4 billion) although the gap almost expanded to that level already in May, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Sunday.
The central state budget deficit reached 271.4 billion crowns in January-May, its highest level ever for that period, hit by higher pension payments, spending on energy price subsidies and growing debt servicing costs.
“It has not been evolving well, but I still cannot say that we will not meet (the deficit target),” Fiala said in a live debate on CNNPrima News TV station.
“We will see during the summer, when (extra) revenues will be coming, what is the state of the budget… if not, we are ready for savings this year to get (the) budget under control,” he said.
The additional revenue is expected to come from windfall taxes, a dividend from majority state-owned utility CEZ and European Union funds, Fiala said.
Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura said on Thursday that his ministry will next week propose savings worth at least 20 billion crowns in this year’s budget to stem the swelling deficit.
($1 = 22.0100 Czech crowns)
(Reporting by Robert Muller; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
